Then the Morning Comes
by AlchemyOtaku0922
Summary: He never remembered it in the morning. But I did. I always did. Rated for abuse. MXM


He never remembered it in the morning. But I did. I _always _did.

Actually, those moment would forever be embedded into my brain.

I still remember the first time it happened. It was my fault, really. I knew Mello was stressed out. I knew to stay away from him when he was like that. But I didn't back off. I kept bothering him.

"C'mon, Mels. You'll beat Near next time. It's just one tiny battle. It's not a big deal."

I just hated seeing him so upset. I only wanted him to stop stressing himself out over things like that. I thought he would appreciate my concern.

I was wrong.

Before I even knew what was happening, I felt my cheek sting.

_Mello just hit me. _

I could barely process the thought. Mello always told me he would protect me. He _promised. _He told me he wouldn't let anyone hurt me anymore.

_And now Mello just hit me. _

"Idiot," He growled. "It's not just _'one tiny battle'. _Every victory Near gains is just another loss for me. Who's side are you on, anyway?"

"Y-you'rs," I stuttered, trying to recover. "Of course. But I just think…you shouldn't get so worked up over this. You're only stressing yourself out and-"

I was quickly pinned against the wall, Mello glaring daggers at me. "You have no right to criticize me," He seethed. "You haven't done much to help."

_How could he say that? _I thought. _I do everything he asks of me. I give him everything I possibly can. I do more than a normal person _would _for him. _I kept these thought to myself, though, because I didn't want to upset him any more than he already was.

"Please, Mello," I tried to reason, "just think for a second. You're drunk. Don't do something you'll regret."

"Don't lecture me!" He yelled, throwing a punch.

I cringed in pain, but tried not to make a sound. I decided then to just _shut up. _I would just let him work his anger out and talk to him about it later, when he was calm.

After realizing that I wasn't going to say anymore, he stormed off to bed, still frustrated at me.

I couldn't sleep that whole night.

The next morning I decided to make him pancakes for breakfast, to show him I wasn't mad. I was almost done making them when he walked in groggily, looking half-asleep still.

"What smells so good?" He slurred.

"Pancakes." I answered in my best fake-cheery voice I could muster.

Mello smiled. "What's the special occasion?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing…" I mumbled, trying to decide if he was going to mention what happened last night.

Suddenly I heard Mello gasp. "God, Matt, what happened to you?"

"Huh?" I asked him, a bit confused.

"You have a black eye." He clarified, worry in his voice.

That's when I realized he didn't remember ever hitting me. He was so drunk he probably forgot a lot of that night.

_Should I tell him? _I considered it for a moment, but quickly dismissed the idea. It probably wouldn't happen again, and there was no reason to stress him out any further.

"Um, nothing." I finally responded.

"Nothing?" Mello asked, giving me a skeptical look. "Bruises don't just appear out of nowhere, Matt…"

"I, uh, fell," I said, unable to think of a better excuse in the short time given.

Mello studied my face for a moment, trying to decide if I was lying or not, but finally decided on believing me.

He gave a small chuckle. "You're such a klutz." He mumbled, giving me a quick peck on the cheek.

I laughed nervously. "Yeah…" I agreed, a sick feeling rising in my stomach.

I sit here now, thinking about all of this, and I wonder, _when will it end? _That had happened over six months ago, and he's been drinking more and more often lately.

I look at the time, and it's 6:05 A.M. Mello will be up soon. I have to clean up the mess from earlier.

I sweep up the broken lamp and clean up the papers angrily scattered around the room. That's my job. Erase all the reminds from the night before. Mello never has to know.

I head to the bathroom to pick up the broken beer bottles and I catch a glimpse of my reflection. There's a long, red scar down the side of my face.

_How am I going to hide that? _I wonder, but, before I can come up with a solution, I hear Mello open his bedroom door. I frantically stash the bottles in the trash can and straighten myself up before walking out to say good morning.

I'm about to speak when I see a horrified look on Mello's face.

"Mels?" I whisper. "What's wrong?"

"Your…face…" He says in shock. "What happened to you?"

"It was an accident." I tell him, hoping he won't ask for more details because I forgot to prepare an alibi earlier.

"Matt…we need to talk…" Mello says gently.

"Sure…what's wrong?" I ask innocently.

"You've been getting hurt a lot lately…and whenever I ask where the scars come from, you never have a good answer,"

I quickly interrupt Mello, not wanting to go into this topic. "It's nothing, Mels. Don't worry about it."

"Matty…" Mello practically whispers. "Are you…hurting yourself?"

His question almost makes me want to laugh. If it weren't for the seriousness and the sadness of the situation, I probably would have.

"Of course not, Mello," I answer honestly. "You know I would talk to you before ever doing something like that."

"Then I don't get it," Mello continues. "Is someone else hurting you? You know I'll kill anyone who touches you…"

This concerns me. If Mello is so worried about someone hurting me, he would hate himself if he knew it was him. I don't want that…yet, there's still a part of me that wants him to know. I don't want this to keep going on.

Where are all these cuts and bruises coming from? And don't say 'nowhere' because these are getting serious…that looks pretty bad…"

I weighed the options in my head. It would stupid to tell him. It would only upset him. Isn't he hard enough on himself?

"I'm just worried about you, Matt," He continued. "You know I love you, right? Don't you trust me?"

But what about me? This isn't a healthy relationship. Why should I suffer this abuse?

_Because you always do._ I answered myself. _You know you'd go through anything for Mello. _

"Matt?"

Enough.

"It's you." I quickly blurt out.

"Wh…what?" Mello practically whispers.

I don't know why I just said that. It was stupid to say that. I've been lying to him for six months so I wouldn't have to say that.

But, now that I have, there was no going back.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself to continue.

"The scars are coming from you, Mello. You…hit me. You get really drunk, you hit me, then you don't even remember it in the morning," I can feel myself getting more brave as I continue talking. "I didn't tell you before because I didn't want you to be upset with yourself, but I'm tired of this. I want it to end."

"But…Matt! That can't be true," Mello sputters in disbelief. "You _know _I love you!"

"I love you, too, Mello," I say, even though I'm still angry with him. "I do…but this has to stop. I can't take it much longer."

Mello only stares at me, shocked. I allow him a few minutes to take this all in.

"How can I not even remember?" Mello asks himself quietly, his voice shaking. He then turns his attention back to me. "Matt I am _so _sorry. I promise, I'll do everything I can to make it up to you." He looks truly frantic. I knew he would take it hard, but not _this _hard.

"You have to stop drinking," I tell him firmly. "You only do it when you're drunk…"

"Of course!" Mello agrees immediately. "Anything."

"That's all I want," I tell him, with specks of tears in my eyes, "for this to be over with."

Mello pulls me into a hug, and I let the tears fall.

"I promise Matt," Mello whispers into my ear, "this will _never _happen again." I can hear the tears in his voice. "I'm so sorry."

I know he's telling the truth this time. I know he'll keep his promise. I can tell how truly sorry he is.

My heart instantly feels lighter and I feel like a weight is lifted off of me.

And, through all the tears, I can finally smile.

**Authors Note: Okay, I know the ending is a bit cheesy, but, still, I hope you guys liked it ;) **


End file.
